Does the Polling Station Environment Matter? The Relation Between Voting Machine Layouts Within Polling Stations And Anticipated System Usability
Claudia Ziegler Acemyan, Philip T. Kortum · Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting · 2015
This study sought to understand if voting equipment layouts impacted anticipated voting system usability. Thirty-five participants viewed photorealistic rendered images of twelve different voting system configurations within a polling station. After viewing each condition, participants completed a survey to assess anticipated system usability and related measures. Results showed that spatial configurations of voting machines inside a polling station impacted all subjective ratings. Anticipated usability was highest when the voting systems had dividers around the interface, there was space between units, and polling booths were arranged in the room such that voters did not face one another. This study demonstrates that environmental variables might need to be considered when configuring polling stations in order to maximize subjective assessments, like anticipated usability, that could impact future system use.